Author: ewcachecyc1987

I had to wait a couple of days to write this review, as I am still steaming from my encounter. I have taken the time to read other reviews of this restaurant, and a lot of the same things will be said. I am also...sure that the owner will contest a lot of what I say because that’s what he seems to do on here to plead his ignorance, innocence and excuse the restaurant’s deplorable behavior towards certain customers. I am a Chef and I would not work at a place that treats its customers the way this owner did or produces the food it does. I called 10 days before arriving for a reservation to Piccola Napoli Restorante and in talking with the man on the phone, he seemed to be short and ill-tempered. He might have been busy or having a hard night and therefore, against my better judgment, I brushed the interaction off. He asked me when I wanted it, and I told him October 29th and in thinking back, the interaction was definitely cut short after leaving my name. I made sure to tell him twice, I will be celebrating an anniversary and he brushed it aside with a hurled ‘ok’ or grunt, one or the other. I am a very understanding person and shook off my feelings to call back and cancel the reservation as the vibe just did not feel right. It wasn’t until the time my Girlfriend and I got to the restaurant that I realized that I was talking to the Owner on the phone. We arrived 10 minutes late and I apologized to the man greeting us (not the owner, maybe his son) as I know that even a little late can throw off the next set of reservations if the restaurant plans to flip the tables and have another seating. The owner came up to the son, had words with him rather gruffly and we were seated by the son. The restaurant had six other tables seated, far short of capacity but I did hear the son explaining that they would be busier later in the night. We got sat in the corner, with the walls spotted with food from previous diners. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had made a mistake in my choice… I even asked my Girlfriend if we should leave and go find somewhere else. She said make the best of it and hopefully the feeling was wrong The owner came to ask for our drink order and walked off. He would walk around the restaurant with his mask on but when he talked to customers at the tables, he would have the mask hanging off his ear. He would also take the mask off in the kitchen and come out of the kitchen reapplying it. We gave him our order after waiting 15 minutes for him to return. My Girlfriend’s water glass was half-full when he took our order. She was a little perturbed by the price on the menu for her vegetable based pasta (Pasta Primavera) but I assured her that it was our anniversary and its ok to splurge a little… How little did I know what I was splurging for… Dry noodles that came from a box, no difference from what you would get from a box of Catelli. Her Penne Primavera (white sauce and a few chopped up vegetables) was nothing to write home about, very little flavor… literally $2.00 worth of ingredients, a dish that they’re running at less than 10% food cost (10% of the menu price actually going towards ingredients; menu price $22). I ordered the Linguine Vongole (Clams in a white wine sauce). My pasta was literally canned clams (I know because I use the same product to make clam chowder) and boxed linguine with a slight sauce (menu price $21, Food Cost at around 7%). I ate because I was hungry. I do understand that leasing a property in Avenida Village must not be cheap and you do have to pay your overhead including labor and still have to make some money to live. But most restaurants thrive on running a 22-25% food cost without sacrificing quality. Now I know how hard it is out there right now, and I love to support local (especially family owned business), so the money is not important to me in a case like this. But I would request to any restauranteur out there to not insult your customer’s intelligence. Customers are more informed than ever now and if you make a Primavera, make it bustling with fresh vegetables, or garnish with a few fresh clams to go along with the canned variety. Garnish your plates. I understand that this restaurant might feel like they don’t need to because of their clientele (all of the tables around us were aged 55+, with a few retirement communities within close proximity of the restaurant), but there are other customers outside your normal demographic who would like a positive food experience. This is where the food experience hit the skids. We did not see our server (the owner) for 30 minutes after he handed us our plates. Our glasses were empty, he offered other tables cracked black pepper and neglected to offer us, and did not stop by once to see how the food was or if we needed anything. I truly felt like a second class patron here as he would hit the table behind us multiple times to chat and even offer them a Pilzner from his ‘Private Stash’, whilst ignoring us. The restaurant did get busier, with around 80% of the tables filled by the time we finished our food but the slow and poor service started much earlier. It wasn’t until I got fed up with cold empty plates crusting up in front of me that I went up and asked for our bill. I told the son at the bar that I haven’t seen anyone for half an hour and our water glasses have been empty for quite a while. He told the Owner at the front and I told him that I was not pleased with the service that I had received here. The owner said that they were short staffed, and I told him that I understood, but when I talked to him on the phone, he was very short with me and did not acknowledge that I was celebrating an anniversary at his restaurant when I told him. He responded with ‘I don’t remember that’ and I said ‘that based on your mannerisms, I am not surprised that you don’t remember me saying that’. I told him that it was against my better judgment that I made reservations here but I thought I would give them a chance and I am very disappointed that I did… I just wanted the bill. Not one word of an apology came out of his mouth. Again, I had to wait for him to bring the machine over, and as he was punching in the cost of the meal, I said ‘based on your current clientele, I am surprised you don’t treat your new generation of customers better’. He made me tap my credit card, ripped off the receipt and walked off. My girlfriend still had half of her food son her plate and no one offered a To-Go Container. She asked me if she should ask for one, and I told her not to bother and we both left, flabbergasted. Was it because we were younger than his usual older clientele? Was it because we were a mixed race couple? Was it because we didn’t order any alcoholic beverages? Only the owner himself can explain why he treated us like he did. I am hoping he reads this and changes his ways, for the sake of his business. But one thing is fact, I will not be back and I will implore those reading this (and those I talk to) not to patronize this restaurant. The negative reviews you read are real, I don’t want someone else celebrating their third anniversary to experience the same thing I did here.